This file photo taken on June 5, 2015 shows British contemporary artist of Indian origin Anish Kapoor poses for a photograph at the opening of an exhibition of his works in the gardens of the Chateau de Versailles in Versailles on June 5, 2015. British sculptor Anish Kapoor has been granted exclusive rights to use the ultra-black paint "vantablack", by the company that produces it, producing uproar in the British artistic community. Designed for use in the defence and space sectors the paint absorbs 99.96 per cent of the light hitting it, accorinding to NanoSystems, disguising the tell-tale shadows that allow the human brain to percieve texture and shape. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP.

LONDON.- Sculptor Anish Kapoor sparked debate in Britain Thursday by buying the exclusive right to use a pigment said to be the blackest ever, to the fury of others in the artistic community.

Kapoor, whose huge works of public art are landmarks in cities from London to Chicago, has snapped up the rights to Vantablack, which absorbs 99.96 percent of light.

The move has drawn some criticism in Britain's artistic community.

Christian Furr, a portraitist who had planned to use Vantablack in a series of paintings, told the Mail on Sunday newspaper: "We should be able to use it. It isn't right that it belongs to one man."

The Guardian newspaper ran a story headlined: "Can an artist ever really own a colour?"

But it found that Kapoor was "an ideal artist to experiment with this freaky black" due to his love of "deep, dark, sensual colours".

The colour's makers NanoSystems said on their website that they had chosen to licence Vantablack to Kapoor's studio which would limit its use "in the field of art but does not extend to any other sectors".

It was originally developed for military and aeronautical purposes.

Asked about the reaction of other artists, the firm told AFP: "This debate is for the artistic community, we don't want to get involved. We are scientists."